Red Lobster is abruptly closing dozens of restaurants

New York
CNN
 — 

Struggling Crimson Lobster is abruptly closing a minimum of 48 of its eating places across the nation, in line with a number one restaurant liquidator.

TAGeX Manufacturers is conducting an internet public sale of Crimson Lobster restaurant stock, together with kitchen tools, furnishings, tables and chairs. The public sale begins Monday and continues by means of Thursday, in line with firm founder Neal Sherman.

Crimson Lobster places in Buffalo, Orlando, Jacksonville and different cities had been listed as “quickly closed” on Crimson Lobster’s web site, in line with native information studies.

Crimson Lobster didn’t reply to CNN’s requests for remark. The corporate has round 650 places.

Crimson Lobster is reportedly contemplating submitting for chapter safety. The chain has tapped a restructuring skilled as its chief government, a attainable indicator of an impending chapter.

The mass closures are one other signal of issues at Crimson Lobster and one of many solely occasions in its greater than 50-year historical past the chain has closed dozens of shops directly.

Crimson Lobster was an off-the-cuff eating pioneer, bringing reasonably priced seafood to middle-class shoppers for the primary time.

However the chain has declined lately attributable to a spread of things, together with company mismanagement, say former leaders and restaurant analysts.

In 2020, Thai Union, a longtime provider to Crimson Lobster, took an undisclosed monetary stake within the chain, changing into a key shareholder.

Below Thai Union’s path, Crimson Lobster has cycled by means of 4 CEOs and an all-you-can-eat shrimp deal final yr that slowed down desk service and reduce into Thai Union’s profitability.

The promotion has been a convention on the chain for greater than 18 years, however Crimson Lobster made infinite shrimp a everlasting fixture on the menu.

“We have to be way more cautious,” Thai Union CEO Thiraphong Chansiri mentioned in November of the shrimp deal.

Thai Union mentioned earlier this yr it might divest from Crimson Lobster and take a $530 million loss on its funding.

“I’m going to cease consuming lobster,” Chansiri mentioned.

The explosive development and recognition of fast-casual chains like Chipotle and quick-service chains like Chick-fil-A over the previous 20 years additionally squeezed Crimson Lobster and the informal eating sector.

Informal eating has slipped from 36% of whole restaurant business gross sales in 2013 to 31% in 2023, in line with Technomic, a restaurant analysis agency.